The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

The Hundred-Foot Journey Synopsis

In The Hundred-Foot Journey, Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from their native India, the Kadam family, led by Papa (Om Puri), settles in the quaint village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France. Filled with charm, it is both picturesque and elegant – the ideal place to settle down and open an Indian restaurant, the Maison Mumbai. That is, until the chilly chef proprietress of Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin starred, classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren), gets wind of it. Her icy protests against the new Indian restaurant a hundred feet from her own, escalate to all out war between the two establishments – until Hassan’s passion for French haute cuisine and for Mme. Mallory’s enchanting sous chef, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), combine with his mysteriously delicious talent to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue Saint-Antonin with the flavors of life that even Mme. Mallory cannot ignore. At first Mme. Mallory's culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan's gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.

The Hundred-Foot Journey abounds with flavors that burst across the tongue. A stimulating triumph over exile, blossoming with passion and heart, with marjoram and madras, it is a portrayal of two worlds colliding and one boy’s drive to find the comfort of home, in every pot, wherever he may be.

Some movies hit theaters and prove that no matter how bad the movie is, no matter how many critics point out its copious flaws, and no matter how disappointing the trailers might be, audiences with a notable lack of taste and common sense will still turn up to watch the drivel explode like cinematic diahrea off the screen and through their 3-D glasses. It's also interesting to note how many of those movies involve Michael Bay.

Helen Mirren teams up with Oprah Winfrey for the winsome drama The Hundred-Foot Journey. Mirren stars as a snooty chef who runs an accomplished French restaurant, and is perturbed when an immigrant Indian family opens their own eatery just across the street. Oprah Winfrey produces, alongside Steven Spielberg, and the trailer above should give you a sense of what attracted both to the project.

First let's start over at Marvel Studios, which is just coming off the ridiculous success of Shane Black's Iron Man 3 last month. The company has actually made a habit of owning the first week in May, releasing Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, The Avengers and Iron Man 3 on that weekend, and it appears that they will continue that habit for years to come.

Should she join the film, Mirren would play Madame Mallory, the owner of a three-Michelin-star restaurant in France. The Mumbai-born Hassan Haji and his family movie from India to France and open up a town-awakening Indian restaurant just 100 feet from Mallory’s restaurant. A culinary war rages on, but Mallory relents and mentors Haji on his culinary trek, taking him to Paris.